Chapter 2 I'm Not From Around Here

  Another day has begun for Ponyville. The sun could be seen in the distance, filling the sky with beautiful shades of red and yellow. Ponies were already leaving their homes to do their things for the day. Ponies were opening their shops, including one named Sugar Cube Corner. The lights were on and the door has just been unlocked. Ponies were already starting to come in to get their breakfasts. One of the ponies, was a Rainbow Dash, coming in for one of Sugar Cubes

Corners Famous Rainbow Cupcakes. (Yes, I just made a reference.)

  "Hey Mr.Cake." Rainbow greeted. Mr.Cake was working at the counter, taking an order from Derpy for Lemon Muffin Surprise.

  "Oh, Hello Rainbow Dash." Mr.Cake greeted with a warm smile.

  "Can you make me a-"

  "Rainbow Cupcake?" Mr.Cake finished her sentence.

  Rainbow Dash smiled. "You took the words right out of my mouth."

  "It's baking right now." Mr.Cake told her. "You can go upstairs to see Pinkie until then. She is just about ready to head out again."

  "Awesome." Rainbow Dash said, and flew up the stair case to Pinkies room.

  Rainbow Dash flew up until she reached Pinkies door. She dropped to the floor. Almost instantly, the door to her side zipped open, revealing Ms.Cakes head to poke out. She glared at Rainbow Dash. She put a hoof up to her lips and shushed her.

  "Quiet, the baby cakes are asleep." She whispered loudly.

  Rainbow just raised a hoof and mouthed, " Sorry."

  Ms.Cake slowly closed the door. Rainbow turned toward Pinkies door and knocked three times.

  "Hey Pinkie, you ready? We gotta head to Appaloosa in fifteen minuets." She whispered.

  "Yeah, I'm just about ready. I'll meet you at the train station."  She said behind the door.

  "Ok, see you then." Rainbow said as she made her way to get her cupcake.

  By the time every pony arrived at the station, they all noticed that Pinkie acted a little different. She was her happy normal self, but when she wasn't interacting with anypony or anything or just being plain random, she just sits there. She appears to be deep in thought, her eyes would narrow and she would stroke her imaginary goatee on her chin.

  Applejack was the first to confront her. She moved over to her with Apple bloom at her side. She gave Pinkie a tap on her shoulder. Pinkie turned to face her.

  "Oh hey Applejack, what's up?" She asked happily.

  "Are yeh ok there, Pinkie? You seem to be distant."

  Pinkie just giggled a bit and nodded. She looked in front of her, trying to find the words to say.

  "Oh yeah, everything's fine. I've just been thinking about the combo yesterday."

  "Oh yeah, that. Yep, that is quite peculiar." Applejack said. She looked away to think back about yesterday.

  "Eh, I'm sure that's its fine." Applejack said. "It can't be anything bad. Ah seriously doubt it." She continued.

  "Yeah, you're right, Applejack." Pinkie said, getting out of her little trance.

  "It can't be that big of a deal."

**************

  The light of the dawn shined through the cave. Touching almost every inch of the cave. My eyes fluttered open once the sun reached my eyes. I sat up quickly as I was blinded. I sneezed from the daylight. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. I saw that I was in the cave still.

  "Oh great, that wasn't a dream? That's fannntastic." I thought to myself.

  I looked down at Joel, who was curled in a ball behind me. I stood up as Joel awoke from his sleep. I stumbled out of the cave, stretching my arms and legs. My back and neck was sore from lying on hard, cold rock all night. I stood outside of the cave, twisting my arms. I groaned as I loosened up.

  "Jeeez." I get groaned.

  Once I was done, I pulled out my phone. I still had no connection, but that didn't mean I could do something. I pulled the camera app up, and put it on video. I held the phone, pointed towards me and pressed the record button.

  "Alright, so I've got a little situation." I said to the phone.

  I explained everything the happened yesterday. Everything from the wolves, my badassery in killing two of them, (in which PETA would probably be on my case for.) and finally the hole, in which it brought me here.

  "And it landed me here." I said, and I turned my phone to the desert.

  "Yeah, It sucks, because I don't have any food nor water, and I don't have a connection; so I can't call anybody. So that's my problem in a nutshell. We gotta keep moving, and I have to conserve my battery, so I won't be able to constantly use it. It's at 95%, but I still gotta use it for emergencies."

  I started to leave the cave, with Joel at my side.

  "This is Trevor, signing off." I stopped recording, turned the phone off, and put it in my pocket.

  "Come on, Joel." I told him. "Let's get moving."

************

  Another day of hard work was underway in Appaloosa. The streets were bustling with noise and work. Ponies were making everything from apples from all over Equestria. Almost any food you can think of, is being made with apples. Everypony had their duty, including Applejack, who was in charge of Appaloosa's Appleoosa. (If you haven't caught on, it's a festival for apples.)

  Applejack trotted down the dirt roads, inspecting all of the ponies, and occasionally giving advise to those who needed it.

  "Alright great job, everypony!" She announced.

  "Y'all are doing great." She added.

  "Oh, and Apple Cinnamon!" Applejack called as she passed by her house.

  Cinnamon turned her head towards Applejacks.

  "Don't let Pinkie get into that Carmel." She said with a smile.

  Cinnamon saluted like a soldier. Applejack chuckled at this, and she got back to work.

(Meanwhile on the other side of town.)

  "Applejack!" A voice called. Twilight looked into the busking crowd. She could see a large pink bow bobbing up and down amongst the crowd of busy ponies. She already knew it was Applejacks little sister, Applebloom. Applebloom wandered up and down the street, looking for her big sister. She's been looking for her for the past hour.

  "Applejack!" She called again.

  "Applejacks busy, Applebloom." Said Twilight as she appeared beside her. "What do you need?" Twilight asked.

  "Well, I finished all of my work for the day. I'm getting really bored, so I was wondering if I could go to the orchard, and hang around there." Applebloom said.

  "Alright, I'll make sure to tell her, but don't leave the orchard." Twilight instructed.

"Ok, I won't." Apple Bloom said excitedly, and ran off.

  Twilight only smiled, before she started to look for Applejack.

**************

  It gets pretty boring walking through a barren wasteland, so I've been doing things to keep me busy. I've been humming and singing songs from my favorite artists and I've been checking my phone for any bars, but mostly whistling Metallica. It's a little complicated when your thirsty, but it's the best I've got.

We were walking until we came upon a large hill. It wasn't to steep, so it was easy to climb. When I climbed to the top, I thought it was a mirage. We stood on top of the hill, looking down to what appears to be a large Apple orchard. We made our way down the hill, trying not to fall forward. I approached one of the trees. I reached a hand out to touch it, only to feel solid bark. It wasn't a illusion. I made a sigh in relief, then started to laugh a little out of excitement. Not only was this a sign that we won't starve, someone planted these here. That means I'm going to get help.

  I jumped and grabbed an apple from the tree, and it came off easily with a snap. I held it in my palms. Just looking at it was appetizing. I did a little dance of joy, knowing that we were going to be ok. I stopped dancing before someone could see me, and looked at the apple I picked. It was a big apple, with a color of dark red. I took a bite. The taste of the apple was mind blowing!  It was the sweetest apple I've ever tasted! The juices came gushing out and filling my mouth with flavor. I never really liked apples, but this is one hell of an apple!

  I jumped up and picked another. I handed it to Joel, but thought that it would be awkward for him to eat it when the apple was quite large. I had an idea. I grabbed my knife and pulled it out. I began to cut the apple like my knife was a saw. I cut the sides off and tossed away the core. I handed Joel a piece of an apple. He sniffed it for a few seconds before taking it from my hand. Joel began to eat the apple.

  I laid back on the tree, scratching Joel's back, and eating my apple.

*****************

  "Twilight!" Applejack called as she saw her among the crowd.

  They moved to the side of the busy road, so they can actually talk to each other.

  "Have ya seen Apple Bloom?" Applejack asked. "Ah can't find her anywhere."

  "Oh yes, she's fine." Twilight said.

  "You know where she is?" Applejack asked.

  "Yes, she is playing in the orchard." Twilight said.

  "I didn't want to let her go without asking you first, but she said that she was finished with her work and she was getting bored." Twilight added.

  "Ok. I'm going to get her. Why don't you come along?" Applejack invited.

  "It would be my pleasure." Twilight said happily.

***************

  "Well then, that was refreshing wasn't it?" I said to Joel and I stood up.

  Joel barked as a reply.

  "Come on, let's get going." I said.

  "HELP! HELP ME!" I heard a frantic cry for help. It echoed above the trees. I got up instantly. I tried to pinpoint the origin of the screams.  It seemed to have come from the West.

  "Come on Joel!" I yelled.

  I began to run at full speed. I dodged every tree in my way. The screams were getting louder and more frantic. This made me run faster. I could tell that that the voice was female, roughly ten years at the most. I followed the screams to a clearing. I was going to keep running, but I stopped dead in my tracks.

My eyes widened and my legs almost gave out from fear. I saw a giant spider. It is the biggest spider I've ever seen in my life! I'm not even kidding, it had to be eight feet high! It was black all over, except for its head; which was a bright orange. It was on top of her. I could tell. I didn't hear any screams from her. I was too late.

  "Oh my god." I groaned.

  Joel began to growl viciously and bark once he saw the giant abomination. I grabbed my 357 and aimed it strait at it, and pulled the trigger. POW! The bullet zipped right into its abdomen, making a giant hole in the abdomen. Thick, green juices began to gush from the hole. It let out a high pitched hellish shriek of agony. It turned to me. Grey venom was dripping from its fangs.

  "GET AWAY FROM HER!" I bellowed.

  I aimed the gun at its head and fired again. It's head snapped back and it's outer right eye exploded in the same green gunk. It shrieked again in pain. It stumbled back and crashed hard into a tree. Apples and leaves rained down from the tree. It shrieked again, as it ran away into the orchard. I charged after it, and stopped right at the edge of the clearing. I kept my gun pointed at it, until I couldn't see it anymore.

  I put the gun down and back into my holster. I heard Joel bark. I turned to him. He was standing by a giant wad of web. I realized that the spider cocooned her in its thick web. Wait...she might still be alive! I ran over to the small cocoon. I pulled my knife out.

  "Hello? Are you ok?" I asked.

  "Yes! Just get some help!" I heard a muffled reply.

  "Ok hold on, I can get you out. Just old on!"

  I grabbed a small wad of the web and sawed through it. Once it was thin enough to break, I grabbed the web with both hands, and pulled it apart as hard as I could. The web gave away after a little resistance. I tore pieces off and threw them away. Once a hole big enough was made, I reached a hand out.

  "Geez, are you alright?" I asked.

  "Yes, I'm fine." She replied.

  She didn't go for my hand. Instead, she sat up. I didn't even notice what was off about her until I actually saw what she looked like.

  "Ok good, what's your nam-?" I asked before I my voice stopped dead silence. My eyes widened, and I screamed.

  The girl that I thought was human, was anything but that. She was horse. A freaking HORSE! She was oddly colored. More specifically, yellow. She had red hair with a bright red bow. She jumped at my screams. She looked at me as I looked at her. Her eyes widened and screamed. I screamed back at her as I fell onto my butt. I scurried away still screaming. She to, was still screaming. At this point, we were both screaming.

  "Sweet Celestia, what are you?!" She cried.

  "What am I? What the hell are you?!" I shouted back.

  "I asked first!" She screamed back.

  She scrambled out of the shredded cocoon. She didn't run away, but she kept her distance. I looked over at Joel, who was staring at her and wagging his tail, as if she was another dog. He was jumping up and down. His tail was wagging, and he let out an excited yip. She backed away a few steps on her tiny hooves. I noticed that she was obviously scared of my dog.

  "Joel, no!" I barked.

  He looked up at me, and then sat down. His tail continued to wag as he stared at her.

  "Don't mind him. He might seem intimidating, but he's a friendly fur ball." I said as I collected myself.

  I took a few steps back, running my hands through my messy hair. I put my hands on my hips, and took a deep breath.

  "Ok...ok...it's good." I said, calming myself.

  I sat turned to the small pony. (It seems more appropriate to call her that.) I noticed that she was still there. She was still afraid. I could see it in her eyes, but I also saw curiosity. She's took a step forward. I was also curios, once I cooled off. It was odd that I'm in the presence of a talking pony, but it was also pretty cool. I sat down slowly. I didn't want to startle her in anyway.

  "Ok, sooooo you can talk." I said.

  She nodded. "Uh huh." She said.

  She began to sit down. Her eyes were still on me. She peered at me. She looked at me, studying me. She looked at me head to toe, especially my guns. We both sat there, staring at each other. Everything was quiet, except for the soft breeze that rolled in. We both sat there as Joel wagged his tail like a fool.

  "Well, what's you name?" I asked.

  "Applebloom....my names Applebloom." She said, loosening up a bit.

  "Cool. My names Trevor." I said calmly.

  She nodded in response. Apple Bloom scooted closer to me. She peered at me and her expression of fear weakened

  "So you obviously know English." I said. Trying to break the ice.

  "English?" She asked, scratching the back of her ear with her hoof.

  "Don't you mean Equestrian?" She asked.

"Equestrian? Da frick she talking about?" I thought to myself.

  I disregarded her question. I asked another question.

  "So, what are you doing in Texas, or wherever this place is?" I asked.

  "Texas? What are you talking about? You're in the Appaloosa orchard." She said.

  I frowned. I began to rub the hairs on my chin. I knew to the answer to the question to the next question I was about to ask, but I couldn't bear the truth.

  "But this is earth." I said pointing to the ground. "THIS is earth." I said again.

  Applebloom shook her head. "Well this is Earth, but you're in Equestria." She said.

  "Equestria? What the hell is Equestria?" I asked.

  "It's the country you live in." She said. By this time, she showed no fear, only curiosity. She scooted closer.

  "Haven't you ever heard of America?" I asked.

  Her face was expressionless. She had no clue. I thought of things American.

  "USA, Uncle Sam, God bless the USA?" I asked, trying to spark a memory of my home.

  She shook her head after thinking for a bit.

  "Nope." She said.

  I sat back, I was confused. If she is on earth, then how does she not know about America? This question bounced around in my head. I frowned a I digested this.

  "Huh...strange." I said.

  "What's your dogs name?" Apple Bloom asked.

  "Who this little fur ball?" I asked as I scratched his head.

  "This right here, is Joel." I Introduced.

  Joel barked happily, his tongue flopping up and down as he panted. His tail continued to wag. He barked at her happily. Apple Bloom didn't even flinch. She got up and moved over to him. She reached out a hoof.

  "Ah never seen this breed before in mah life." She said. "What breed is he?" She asked.

  "He is a German Shepard." I said as I scratched is back.

  Joel sniffed her hoof, before he continued to pant again.

  "May I?" She asked excited.

  "Of corse." I said happily. "Go right on ahead."

  Applebloom instead of petting Joel, embraced him in a warm hug. Joel went ballistic. He began to squirm in her hug. He licked her face as she pulled away. She laughed at his outburst of sudden happiness. I couldn't help but smile at the overwhelming cuteness. She scratched his head with a hoof as she said things like, "Who's a good boy?" and "You're so cute!"

  "My my, you seem to be quite calm around us. Aren't you the least bit afraid?" I asked.

  "Well, ah was,"  She said as she continued to rub his head. "But you seem like pretty cool...." She said. The way she dragged it out made me realize that I didn't even tell her what I was.

  "Human." I finished.

   "Ah yes...Human." She said, letting the word roll around on her tongue.

  "Well anyway, I was scared, but you seem harmless enough. I mean, I heard those loud bangs. I don't know what you did to make it go away, but you saved me, and that's the bottom line." She continued.

  "Yeah." Was all I could say.

   I was still bewildered by the fact that I was making contact with a talking pony. It was cool and all, but what did she mean by the fact that I was in Equestria? I defiantly never heard of it, and especially no talking ponies.

  "What are those?" I heard her ask. "Those things on your leg and back, what are they?" She pointed to my guns.

  "Ummm...wellll." I said, trying to think of an answer.

  "Well, they are-" POW!

  Bright purple light folded my vision as I was struck by something solid. I fell backward, hitting the ground hard. My vision became blurry and disorienting. My sense of hearing became nothing more than a ringing. I put a hand on my head to coax my throbbing head. I shook my head to get rid of my ringing. I heard all sorts of things, yelling, barking, hoof steps, and my breathing. I shook my head again, and they pain, ringing subsided.

  "Applebloom, what were you thinking?" I heard a voice shout. It also had a southern accent, but this one was older. Perhaps a sibling?

  "Are you hurt?" I heard another voice ask. This one had no southern accent.

  "Yes, I'm fine!" I heard Apple Bloom shout.

  I stood up slowly, stumbling after the first few steps, but I managed to keep my footing. I got a good look of my surroundings. There were two more ponies with us. One was orange. She had yellow hair tied into a ponytail as well as her tail. (Ironic, right?) she had a cowboy had on, so I knew who was the other southern pony,

  The other pony was more odd. She was taller and more slender than the orange pony. She was violet purple. She had dark purple hair with highlights within it. One pink, and one a darker purple. What was strange about her, was that she had wings and a giant horn right In the center of her forehead. So what? Was she a Peagacorn?

  There were two things they had in common. One, they both had these strange tattoos on their flanks. For the orange one, it was three apples. For the purple one however, I couldn't make out what it was. It looked like a giant start with a bunch of tiny stars around it. The second thing they had in common, was that they were both glaring at me.

  "We don't even know what this thing is! How can you be so calm around it?" The orange one asked.

  Apple Bloom was about to protest, but the purple one interrupted her.

  "I do. You're a human."

  An eyebrow raised on my forehead. How did she know what I was? Has she seen a human before?

  "Oh, and it's a he." The purple one added.

  "A human? What in tarnation is a Human?" She asked as she rubbed a very annoyed Apple Bloom.

  The purple one ignored her. She stepped up to me. She studied me, circling me.

  "I've seen your kind before, but you're different." She said to me.

  "Yeah ok, but let me ask you something ok? WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" I exploded. She stepped back at my sudden outburst.

  "Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill me?! What did I do to get zapped or whatever you did?!" I continued.

  She took a deep breath, and exhaled. She ignored my outburst, and answered.

  "Well, where to start? How about these guns you have in your possession? Or how about that large knife you have tightly in your grip?" I released my grip on the knife. It fell to the ground with a soft thud. I had completely forgotten about it!

  "Like I said, you are different from the others I've seen. You seem more negative, aggressive if you will." She said, still circling me.

  Joel was growling at her, but I shushed him. He kept his stance and glared at her.

  "It is my duty as a princess, to take you in for questioning." She said.

  "Like hell you are. I'm not going anywhere." I growled.

  "Oh yes, you are." She said, and with that, purple light lit up her horn and purple light, engulfed my wrists like handcuffs. They held my arms in place as I struggled to squirm free.

  "What the hell is this?!" I said, shocked.

  Joel charged at her, but a glow surrounded his body and he froze like he was Ice.

  "You should train your pets to be more friendly." She said sheepishly.

  "You can't do this! I didn't do anything! Tell them, Applebloom!" I said in hopes that she would speak up.

  She was about to, but the orange pony interrupted her. "Don't listen to him! He's dangerous."

  "Ah, screw this!" I shouted.

  I kicked the purple pony in the side once she was in front of me. She fell back and grunted in pain. The light from horn died, and the hand cuffs disappeared. Joel was free from being frozen in place. I reached for my gun and knife at the same time. I raised the gun right above my head and fired. The shot made the orange pony flinch, and cover her ears. Her grip loosened enough for Apple Bloom to squirm free, but I didn't wait for her.

  I turned and bolted in the other direction, calling Joel with me. I only made it to the end of the clearing, when I heard:

  "AFTER HIM!"

  Uh oh

  I ran faster, dodging tree after tree. The sound of hooves could be heard from behind me. I felt something clamp onto my back. I shook it off as hard as I could. It let go, leaving a stinging pain in my back. I ran faster, my lungs were on fire like how I was running from the wolves. In fact this reminded me a lot of the wolves. Up until, purple lasers began to zip by over my head.

"Holy shi-" POW!

  Pain shot down my arm as a laser struck me in my right shoulder. I shouted in pain, but I kept running.

  The purple one was firing at me with lasers! I began to run in zigzags, trying to foil her aim. Lasers hit the ground, and all around me. The ground exploded dirt into my face, and everywhere else. I coughed as I made my way to the other end of the dirt cloud. I kept running, my breathing has gotten faster as we'll as my heart rate. My feet were screaming in agony as I ran. Walking around all day, does this to you.

  I looked back to see if they were after me. They must have lost themselves in the cloud, because I didn't see them, but I could hear them.

  "Applejack! Where are you?" I heard the purple pony call. I could hear all three of them coughing as we ran away.

  I chuckled to myself. I was about to celebrate, but the ground I was running on, suddenly disappeared from beneath my feet. I heard the barking of Joel as I fell.

  "Oh noo-!" Thud! "Ah ha! Ow!" Was all I said as I landed on something hard. I looked around me to see that I was in what looked like a giant, empty bowl. Joel stood at the edge, barking at me. I called him down. "Come on, Joe-" I stooped I could hear them getting closer.

  "Oh my god Joel, jump!" I shouted.

  He didn't take a second to spare. He jumped and landed on all fours at the bottom. I looked around nervously for an exit. I stopped when I saw a small hole in the rock. I ran to it, to study. It let into a dark tunnel, but it was tilted downward, like a slide. I didn't know where I went, but, I'm going to take the chance. I pushed Joel in, with me following after. We both fell for a shorter distance this time, landing in soft dirt.

  We didn't get a chance to get up, as we began to tumble down into the darkness. I tried to stop myself, grabbing for anything to hold onto, but it was hopeless.

  "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" I shouted as I tumbled deeper and deeper.

  "Down here!" I heard a distant voice from above shouted.

  Oh no. This is perfect.

  Purple lasers lit up the tunnel like fireworks. Bouncing off of the walls of the cave and into the dirt around us. One exploded into my leg, and pain took its place. I yelped in pain as I heard Joel yelp at the same time. We tumbled for another good fifteen seconds before we hit solid ground with two thuds. I fell onto my stomach. I could feel the wind push out of my lungs. I rolled over gasping for breath. It felt like I was about to die of suffocation. I lied there in the silence and darkness, struggling to breath, making little pathetic wheezes. I felt something wet and slimy lick the side of my face. I knew that it was Joel.

  Once I regained my breathing, I stood up in the darkness. I stretched and groaned, as I had just thrown myself into a steep hill underground. I tried to walk, but pain shot up my let where that purple pony hit me with her laser. Pay leg gave in. I fell to the ground. I cursed silently as I got up again, slowly this time. I could limp around, which was better than nothing. I started to feel around for Joel. I found him by stepping on his tail. He yelped in surprise. I removed my foot instantly.

  "Sorry." I whispered.

  I reached into my pocket, hoping that my phone was still in there, and sure enough it was. I celebrated in silence as I turned it on. It flicked on in the darkness. It had no sign of any damage, which was good. Not like it was the big problem here. I turned on the flashlight for my phone. The light lit up the cave. I smiled as I could see where I was going.

  I knelt down. I checked all of my guns and my knife. They were all fine. I took a bullet count. 14 bullets for my hunting rifle, and 9 rounds for the magnum. I didn't lose any bullets thankfully. I'm just glad that I didn't impale myself on my own knife. Now THAT, would be a real problem.

  I checked Joel. He looked up at me, eyes glowing eyes from the light and panting. I knew he was fine. He must have been hit by a laser, but it isn't serious.

  "How are you, boy?" I said as I rubbed his head. He barked in reply.

  "Now...let's find a way outta here." I said.

  I looked around with the light. It seemed to me, that I was in a dome. The roof of the cave was roughly twenty five feet high, and sixteen feet wide. I searched the walls of the cave. My eyes fell onto a small hole. I approached it, and looked inside. It was wide enough for me to crouch in. I can't say exactly how long it stretched, but at the end of it, I could see daylight. That's out ticket out of here.

  "Alright, you ready to get going?" I asked Joel.

  He licked my face. I wiped it off.

  "Yeah I'd rather stay here for a while." I said sarcastically.

  I ushered Joel in before me, and I followed after him.